Portland teen brings therapy wallaby to Blazers game

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Portland teen brings therapy wallaby to Blazers game

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) — We’re used to seeing therapy dogs, but what about a therapy wallaby? A Portland teenager says she takes her beloved marsupial everywhere.

We first met Momo the wallaby at the Blazers game last week when his owner, 14-year old Portia Neth, brought him to the game.

Neth says she suffers from anxiety attacks and after talking with her therapist, she thought a therapy animal would be helpful. But she did not want just any therapy animal. Neth said she did some research, found out it was legal and convinced her parents a wallaby would be a good investment.

So, they made the trip up to Seattle to purchase Momo from a farm, and Neth said she is so glad she did.

“I have anxiety attacks pretty often. Not super bad ones, but still they aren’t pleasant. And he has helped a lot. They went down quite a bit,” she said. “It’s definitely kind of odd. It’s not your normal animal. Most people have cats, dogs or rabbits. I have a wallaby.”

Neth said she carries Momo in a pouch most of the time, but also uses a harness and a leash to walk him and has even taken him to the beach. Momo is only 10 months old, but they expect him to grow to about 2 and a half feet tall and weigh about 50 pounds when he is full grown.